The E Visa

1
The E Visa

• E-1 Treaty Countries (50 in trade with the
  U.S. per year)
• Aruba
• Canada
• China
• Ethiopia
• France
• Italy
• Japan
• South Korea
• Mexico
• Spain
• Philippines
• UK
• Yugoslavia

• E-2 Treaty Countries (people who make U.S.
  investments)
• Canada
• Costa Rica
• France
• China
• Iran
• Italy
• South Korea
• Mexico
• Jamaica
• Japan
• Thailand
• Trinidad and Tobago
• Turkey

2
E-1 Visa

• The Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) and
  immigration
• regulations define an E-1 Visa visitor as
  someone
• Entitled to enter the United States under the
  provisions of a treaty between the United States
  and the foreign state of which he or she is a
  national
• Coming to the U.S. solely to carry on trade of a
  substantial nature, including trade in services
  or trade in technology
• Working either individually or as an employee of
  a foreign person or organization
• Engaged in trade that is international in scope
  and principally between the United States and the
  foreign state of which he or she is a national
  and
• The individual intends to depart the United
  States upon the expiration or termination of E-1
  Visa treaty trader status.

3
E-1 Visa Treaty Trader

• Forms Required
• I-129 Supplement E, Form G-28 (individual, and
  separate G-28 per family member), Form I-539,
  Form OF-156E
• Documents Required
• Degrees and/or certificates
• Resume and/or work experience letters showing
  individual is a director or executive of a
  foreign company
• Invoices and Receipts showing amount of trade
  with the U.S.
• Business Plan showing future projected trade with
  the U.S.
• Passport
• Form I-94

4
E-2 Investor Visa

• The E2 Investor Visa allows an individual to
  enter and work inside of the United States based
  on an investment he or she will be controlling,
  while inside the United States.
• This visa must be renewed every other year, but
  there is no limit to how many times one can
  renew.
• Investment must be "substantial." There is no
  minimum amount, but generally speaking, 150,000
  invested in the US is considered substantial.
• An investor must "contribute" to the US economy.
  (Setting up a small shop alone is not enough.)
• The investor must hire US citizens or residents.
  Generally, two employees are sufficient.

5
E-2 Visa Investor

• Forms Required
• I-129 Supplement E, Form G-28 (individual, and
  separate G-28 per family member), Form I-539,
  Form OF-156E (same as E-1)
• Documents Required by Investor
• Educational Degrees/Certificates
• Proof of Income from other sources (besides U.S.
  investment)
• Resume and/or work experience letters showing
  individuals ability to direct the enterprise.
• Valid Passport of the applicant and all family
  members
• 2 recent photos of applicant
• Visa Application
• Form I-94
• Wire transfers from the foreign country
• Certain Documents of the U.S. Company
  Occupational license/permit to operate the U.S.
  Company lease or deed for U.S. company employer
  wage and tax report and quarterly income reports
  IRS Form SS-4 Stock Certificate/Evidence of
  ownership Bank letter/Articles of Incorporation
  Financial Statement Contracts/Sale and Purchase
  Receipts Business Plan Photos of the premises
  brochures/ads

6
The L Visa Generally

• An L-1 visa is a visa document used to enter the
  United States for the purpose of work in L-1
  status.
• It is a non immigrant visa, and is valid for a
  relatively short amount of time - generally three
  years.
• L-1 visas are available to employees of an
  international company with offices in both a home
  country and the United States, or which intend to
  open a new office in the United States while
  maintaining their home country interests.
• The visa allows foreign workers to relocate to
  the corporation's US office after having worked
  abroad continuously for the company for at least
  one year prior to being granted L-1 status.
• The US office must be a parent company, child
  company, or sister company to the foreign company.

7
L1-A Visa-Intracompany Transferee

• Allows an intracompany executive or manager to
  come to the U.S. to establish a new business.
• The employee who is transferring must be acting
  in a managerial or executive capacity with the
  company.
• Forms Required
• I-129 Supplement E, Form G-28 (individual, and
  separate G-28 per family member).
• Documents Required by Transferee
• Educational Degrees/Certificates
• Resume and/or work experience letters showing
  individuals ability to direct the enterprise.
• Certain Documents of the U.S. Company
  Generallyproof of ability to do
• business in U.S. wage and financial
  information Articles of incorporation
• contracts and/or sales receipts
• Certain Documents Pertaining to the Foreign
  Company Generallyfinancial records, Articles of
  Association, Organizational Chart, Employee Duty
  List, Utility Bills
• Passport of Applicant
• Form I-94

8
L1-B VisaSpecialized Knowledge Employee

• Allows a person with a specialized knowledge to
  come to the U.S. to work for a qualifying U.S.
  Company.
• It must be proved that the specialty is difficult
  to be performed by other people and necessary for
  the operation of the development of the business
  in the U.S.
• Forms Required
• Same as the L1-A Requirements
• Documents Required
• Same as the L1-A Requirements

9
2006 Top 10 Companies Using L-1 Visas
Rank Company Headquarters Primary Employment Base L-1 Visa Received
1 Tata Consultancy Services Ltd Mumbai, India India 4,887
2 Cognizant Technology Solutions New Jersey India 3520
3 IBM Armonk, NY USA 1237
4 Satyam Hyderabad, India India 950
5 Wipro Bangalore, India India 839
6 Hindustan Computers Ltd. India India 511
7 Deloitte Touche LLP New York USA 512
8 Patni Computer Systems India India 440
9 Intel, Corp Santa Clara, CA USA 394
10 Kanbay Chicago, Pune, Hyderabad, Chennai India 329